Need for guiding hand on matters of race, religion: SM Lee

These issues will never cease to be sensitive, and external conflicts can trigger tensions in S’pore, he says

- Shermaine Ang

As society evolves, so will the way Singapore manages sensitive matters of race and religion, Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on July 24.

Over the past decades, the Government has been able to use a lighter touch, and allow wider scope for public discussion on such matters, he said at a dinner to mark the 50th anniversary of the National Council of Churches of Singapore (NCCS).

"But these matters, in my view, will never cease to be sensitive. It is most unlikely that we will ever reach the point where a guiding hand is no longer necessary," he added.

SM Lee said this was his reply to a question he is asked now and then: If it is time yet for the Government to let go on matters relating to race and religion, and let the people decide what is acceptable or not.

The experience of other multireligious countries with much longer histories than Singapore shows how ethnic and religious tensions can quickly flare up even after generations of living peacefully together, and permanently divide the society, he said. "That must never happen to us."

Citing the Israel-Hamas war and the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar, he said these external troubles can trigger tensions in Singapore.